Rocky Mountain Poison Center Staff Discuss Legalized Pot in Colorado

April 19, 2014, 5:44 pm

Dr. Eric Lavonas, associate director of the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center, discussed the situation with legalized cannabis in Colorado on 710KNUS in Denver. He noted that the 3 main problems emergency departments have been dealing since legalization have been psychotic reactions from persons not accustomed to the potency of the marijuana that’s on the market, the severe vomiting that some users experience, and children who inadvertently ingest cannabis edibles (candy, brownies cookies, etc) and show up with altered behavior.

Dr. Lavonas also touched on the problem of users “stacking” doses of edible cannabis, when they don’t realize that ingested THC does not reach peak effect for 30 minutes or more, and then take additional doses that eventually add up to frightening effect.

In a recent story in the Denver Post, Dr. Al Bronstein from the poison center also discussed this phenomenon, along with 2 cases in which ingestion of marijuana edibles were associated with fatal outcomes.